MDP cries foul as police tear up campaign posters

The Maldivian Democratic Party boycotted Tuesday’s meeting of the Elections Commission’s national advisory committee in protest against police obstruction of campaign activities.

A jogging event was blocked Friday and police officers were deployed across the capital over the past two days to stop campaign workers from putting up posters.

Despite failing to produce a court warrant, police officers claimed that pasting posters on private property was illegal and arrested former MP Ibrahim Rasheed ‘Bonde’ and activist Ahmed Maimoon. Both were briefly detained and released Tuesday evening.

Earlier in the day, MDP representatives met with EC members after walking out of the advisory committee meeting. The commissioners assured that they would take up the issue with police, MDP deputy chairman Ali Niyaz told the press.

As promised, EC president Adam Shareef and spokesman Ahmed Akram later met with senior police officers “to discuss allowing equal opportunity for political parties to carry out political activities”.

However, police officers were tearing off posters at different locations in Malé about two hours later.

At a press briefing Wednesday morning, EC president Shareef said all parties should have equal opportunity to conduct political activities “within the bounds of the legal framework.”

Police informed the EC that it blocked the poster event to prevent traffic congestion, Shareef said.

Yameen abuses all state resources including the State TV for his campaign, while doing everything he can to obstruct the MDP campaign. Police forcibly removed posters from a private property & confiscated all the posters. Utterly illegal, unethical, unjustifiable. #Elections2018pic.twitter.com/XAeiUAoMn5